


Between Love and Soul

by TheFoolsKnightober (TheFoolsKnight)



Series: Whumptober 2020 [2]
Category: The Eldest Curses Series - Cassandra Clare, The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Choices, M/M, Ultimatums, Whumptober, Whumptober 2020, lost book of the white spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:01:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26770333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFoolsKnight/pseuds/TheFoolsKnightober
Summary: Whumptober Day 2 - Choose who diesAlec, Magnus and Jace successfully break into one of the Princes of Hell’s hideout, but soon Alec is forced to make a very difficult choice.
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Series: Whumptober 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947043
Comments: 2
Kudos: 54





	Between Love and Soul

Alec had no idea how he’d gotten here.

Everything was going well at first - they’d managed to sweep through all the defences without anyone raising an alarm, had managed to sneak into the room where Sammael was hiding, but maybe they should’ve expected this. Sammael  _ was  _ a Prince of Hell, after all.

“So,” he said casually, lounging back in his very exuberant and completely unnecessary throne. “Which one will it be?”

Alec’s jaw was clenched as his eyes flickered between Jace and Magnus on either side of Sammael. The two of them stared back at Alec, steady and unflinching in spite of the roiling darkness that surrounded them. Alec supposed that the masses of dark smoke were demons, but he couldn’t tell which kind. But that didn’t matter, not when he could see the blades pressed against Magnus and Jace’s throats clear as day.

“Please don’t mind, this entire business was starting to get awfully boring,” Sammael said, looking between the three of them with mild interest. “So I thought I’d spice things up a little. So, have you decided yet? Who gets to die, and who gets to go home with you? If you go home at all, that is.”

Sammael let out a bark of laughter, but Alec ignored him. He wished he didn’t have to do this. He wished he wasn’t here  _ at all.  _

He had to navigate this carefully. One wrong move meant that either Jace or Magnus or maybe even both would be harmed, and he couldn’t let that happen.

“If you don’t make a choice soon,” Sammael drawled. “ _ I  _ will.”

He looked between Magnus and Jace. “You’re in love in the warlock, aren’t you? I’ll kill the golden-haired one, then. I do know how awful it is to lose someone you love, you know.”

Sammael lazily flicked his hand, and Alec growled, “Don’t you dare.”

Sammael raised both of his eyebrows. “Have it your way, then. Although I do need something to quelch my boredom- Oh, I know!”

He waved a hand in an almost dismissive fashion, and Alec had to stifle a gasp when the knives moved, so swift Alec almost missed it, and left identical cuts on Magnus and Jace’s cheeks. Neither of them flinched, neither moved an inch. Alec wondered distantly why both his husband and his  _ parabatai  _ had to be the type of people who hid how much pain they really were in. 

“One cut for every minute you delay,” Sammael explained, and grinned. “Time is ticking, Shadowhunter.”

Alec silently cursed in his head, but it was drowned out by all the other tumultuous thoughts running around in his head. He wondered if killing the demons would work. If he moved fast enough, hurled a knife at both at the same time… but what if the demons saw it coming and-

“Don’t even think about it,” Sammael drawled, and Alec realised that his hands were unconsciously drifting towards his weapons belt. “If you try anything funny, I’ll have both their throats cut before you can even blink. Oh, speaking of which…” Sammael grinned at Alec. “A minute has passed.”

A second cut, just above the first one. Alec thought he’d heard Magnus take a sharp inhale of breath. He could see a drop of blood trickling down Jace’s cheek. His heart was beating hard now, the sound reverberating through his ears and making it harder for him to  _ think. _

If it wasn’t obvious already, Alec simply couldn’t choose. One was the only love of his life. The other held a part of his soul. 

Alec breathed steadily through his nose. He had no answer for Sammael. 

He almost flinched when a third cut appeared, this time just below the jaw. Sammael was looking at the two hostages with mild interest, biding his time by idly playing around with sparks on his fingers.

Alec was just wondering what he was supposed to do when a small movement caught his eye. Alec discreetly looked at Magnus, who was subtly tapping his fingers against his thigh. Their eyes met, and Alec noticed that Magnus’s lips were moving subtly, as if muttering a spell. He  _ was  _ muttering a spell, Alec realised. He simply had to buy enough time until Magnus got to do whatever he was planning.

“Hurry up,” Sammael snapped. “I swear to Hell, you people are  _ so  _ boring.”

Alec swallowed. If he kept delaying, Sammael would hurt Jace and Magnus even more, and he had no idea how long they’d be able to endure. He couldn’t just stand there and do nothing while watching them be in pain. He  _ had  _ to do something.

Alec gulped. Hopefully, this would be enough for Magnus to buy some time, and they could get out of there.

“I’ve made my choice,” Alec announced. Jace and Magnus’s eyes widened, but Alec was staring right at Sammael. His head whipped towards Alec in interest, and a slow smile spread across his face.

“ _ Finally,”  _ he said.

“Alec-“ Jace started to say, but was cut off by the knife pressing closer to this throat.

“So.” Sammael sat up straighter, bringing his hands together, tapping his fingers against each other. “Which one will it be?”

Jace’s eyes were wide and anxious, and even from this distance, Alec could hear his ragged breathing. Magnus was staring at Alec with a small frown, his lips not ceasing to move. Alec looked between the two of them, every nerve in his body on edge at the thought of what he was about to do.

“I’m sorry,” he said, barely loud enough to carry through the room. A small crease appeared between Magnus’s eyebrows, his scrutinising gaze fixed on Alec.

Sammael raised an eyebrow at those words. Alec, however, wasn't looking at him. He turned to Jace and said, "Jace… take care of yourself."

"And Magnus…" Alec hesitated. There was so much he wanted to tell Magnus. Instead, all he said was, "I love you."

Magnus would understand. He always did.

"Alexander-" Magnus began, his eyes widening in alarm, but Alec never gave him the chance to speak. Before anyone could even raise a finger, he unsheathed his sword and drove it through his chest.

For a few moments, everything was silent. Then there was only noise.

From where he was lying crumbled on the ground, Alec could distantly hear the voices of Sammael, Magnus and Jace over the ringing in his own ears. He was losing blood fast, and the world was beginning to whirl around him. Alec could feel the scorching heat of magic, could hear Jace’s seraph blades whipping through the air, but when he tried to open his eyes, his vision was a blur.

In a matter of minutes, everything was silent again. There were footsteps, and then Magnus and Jace were right by Alec’s side. Alec had to bite back a groan as he was rolled on to his back, and the sword carefully pulled out of his chest.

“You  _ idiot,”  _ Jace hissed. “ _ I’m  _ supposed to be the reckless, suicidal one!”

Alec coughed, feeling his lungs rattle as Magnus pulled him into his lap, casting blue magic over his wounds. Jace had pulled up his sleeves and was drawing iratze after iratze on Alec’s arm.

“It’s good to switch roles sometimes,” Alec said, and despite everything, a small smile appeared on his face. “Sammael-“

“Escaped,” Magnus said, and then moved his hand to cup Alec’s face. “God, Alec, you- you  _ scared  _ me.”

“I didn’t know what else to do,” Alec confessed, feeling a little better after Magnus and Jace’s ministrations. “I couldn’t watch as he hurt you both. I couldn’t let him kill either of you.”

“So you try to  _ kill yourself?!”  _ Jace demanded, sounding desperate. 

Alec shook his head. “I missed my heart deliberately. I needed a way out of… whatever Sammael was doing.”

“I told you never to do this,” Magnus said, his voice cracking just the slightest bit, his eyes wild as they flickered over Alec’s form. “I  _ told  _ you never to hurt yourself.”

Alec smiled and reached up a hand, touching the cuts on Magnus’s face with his fingers. “I’m sorry I scared you.”

Magnus took in a shaky breath and pulled Alec into an embrace, holding him tight. “ _ Don’t you ever do that again.” _

Alec wrapped his arms around Magnus, and finally, let himself calm down. “I won’t.”


End file.
